Pitfalls of Seller Financing

[Jason Merchey]

I've got a 17 acre parcel of land I bought in 2010. I did overpay. I was emotionally attracted to the place for a few reasons. And the land market around here has sunk a bit in the past 2.5 years as well. I am getting serious about learning investing and cash flow/budget. So I put it on the market the other day. DOM is over 400 days! Even if I lowered the price quite a bit, the place has some disadvantages; it is perfect for someone like me as a recreational property, but besides that it doesn't fit well into a different category - homestead, hunting, farming. So I thought that offering seller financing would be a decent idea. The Realtor noted that it would bring out the lunatic fringe, well, I'm joking. But he wasn't in favor. So, I'm trying to interpret his perspective - is he right that I would do better to sit on my hands and do very little investing in the next 400-500 days, or give it away, or am I correct that if I can find the right buyer, I could get some down and a good note, perhaps collateralized, and the risk would simply be that he burns my trees on the way out if I have to foreclose. Thoughts?